Cars queue in petrol stations, Hollande says blockades carried out by small number

Record ID: 102227

  • Title: Cars queue in petrol stations, Hollande says blockades carried out by small number
  • Date: 24th May 2016
  • Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (MAY 24, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF CARS QUEUING AT PETROL STATIONS PETROL TRUCK PARKED IN STATION VARIOUS OF CARS IN QUEUE (SOUNDBITE) (French) MOTORIST WHO QUEUED FOR TWO HOURS, GUYLAINE, SAYING: "There is no petrol anywhere. I feel upset because we seem to be have been taken hostage by this strike, which has quickly spread. So yes I am upset. But then I un
  • Embargoed: 8th June 2016 12:35
  • Keywords: oil petrol gas refinery France strike labour Valls blockade police
  • Location: PARIS, FRANCE
  • City: PARIS, FRANCE
  • Country: France
  • Topics: Lawmaking,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA0014J635FR
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Queues of cars waiting to get petrol stretched out into the motorway in Paris on Tuesday (May 24), as union members continued a blockade at France's refineries in a government versus union showdown over unpopular labour law reforms.
    Motorists lining up at a petrol station at Paris's peripheral highway expressed irritation over the blockade.
    Emergency stocks are sufficient to keep the country's petrol stations in operation for up to two months, according to some experts, if the government chooses to tap into those supplies.
    French Transport Minister Alain Vidalies said one in every five of the country's 12,500 petrol stations were either completely dry or out of one type of fuel, a week after oil workers first went on strike.
    The CGT union says reforms will unravel France's protective labour regulations, allowing firms to lay off staff more easily in hard economic times and by providing further exemptions from national rules on pay and working conditions.
    French President Francois Hollande, in a radio interview with France Culture on Tuesday, said though concerns over his labour reform program were legitimate, the blockade was being carried out by a small number of people.
    "I am able to do what you are advising me, to avoid commenting on the news, and it doesn't mean I'm neglecting what's going on, and it doesn't mean not having a form of respect for those who have legitimate claims. But nor does it mean accepting this blockade, which is a strategy being carried out by a minority," he said.
    The long lines of motorists panic-buying gasoline amid fuel rationing in parts of France will compound the troubles for Hollande, France's most unpopular leader in recent history, who is striving to convince voters that "things are getting better" a year ahead of presidential elections.
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